News and Opinions on Professional Wrestling

One to Watch: Toni Storm

With all of the hype and focus on the state of Women’s Wrestling, it made sense that the next person to feature as One to Watch would be a lass that is not only the future, but some might say the current face of international female wrestlers. That of course, is the lovely lady from New Zealand, Toni Storm. Some may recognize her as the competitor that fell to Kairi Sane in the quarterfinals of the Mae Young Classic, but there is more to her than a couple of NXT matches.

One thing that stands out above all else is that she has accomplished so much already and she hasn’t even turned twenty-three yet. She currently holds four different titles across three promotions and is affectionally known as “Toni Four Belts.” Two of those titles are in the Japanese promotion Stardom and includes her current reign of over 570 days as the SWA World Champion. She has held that title since July of 2016 and is only the second wrestler to hold the title, the first being the legendary Io Shirai. The other Stardom title she holds is the World of Stardom Championship, with that reign currently going on half a year. She is also one of two non-Asians to hold a title in the company, the other being Alpha Female.

She is currently the wXw Women’s champion, the second titleholder in the companies brief history. Where Toni is best known for however is in the company known as PROGRESS. She is the current PROGRESS women’s champion and is actually the only person so far to hold the title since its inception in May of 2017. She has successfully defended the title eight times, including victories over fellow Mae Young Classic competitors Candace LeRae and Kay Lee Ray.

Storm is known for a hard-hitting style, but also for the fact that she isn’t afraid to take risks. Whether it be a suicide dive or her trademark diving legdrop, she has no issues putting her body on the line to get a win. Her piledriver is a vicious throwback to the golden days of wrestling, and when you watch her in the ring, it’s easy to forget she is so young.

To accomplish so much in so few years just goes to show how good of a competitor she is. Since 2011, she has wrestled in over three hundred matches, rarely wrestling less than five matches a month. It was a surprise to many that the WWE didn’t sign her following such a strong showing in the MYC, but with years ahead of he, it is only a matter of time before we see her inside the WWE ring. Taking a few years to hone her craft can only raise her stock.

If you are interested in checking her out for yourself, there are a number of avenues available to you. Both wXw and PROGRESS have streaming services, as does the WWE where you can rewatch her MYC matches. If you’re a little short on cash this month, you can catch her against fellow MYC competitor Mia Yim, as well as a tag match pitting her and Pollyanna versus Jinny and Elizabeth. Both of those matches can be seen at the end of this article.

As always, if you have anyone you think deserves to be One 2 Watch, feel free to leave a suggestion in the comments below and thanks for the read!